Michael Schumacher believes Mercedes will bounce back after its disappointing performance at the British Grand Prix and is hoping for a podium finish in front of his home crowd at this weekend's German Grand Prix.

Mercedes scored just six points at Silverstone two weeks ago after both drivers struggled in the race and Schumacher dropped from third on the grid to seventh by the end of the race. However, the seven-time world champion is confident results will improve at the next two races, starting with Hockenheim which he says will play to the W03 strengths.

"I guess we have the most difficult race behind us - that was Silverstone," Schumacher said. "Here in Hockenheim it will naturally suit our car and I'm obviously a lot more optimistic. Indeed, we want to give it a good show and give it the maximum effort we always do. But anything extra that can be done for all our Mercedes colleagues that we visited yesterday and will be here supporting us this weekend and crossing fingers for us ... we'll have to do well. If one of us can get on the podium I that would be great."

"We haven't maximised what we had in the last few races and then we last had a race in Silverstone where the track didn't really suit our car. It's maybe not quite the right picture. We still have a good car and I think if the conditions suit us and we get a grip on the tyres then at a track like Hockenheim, which suits our car a lot better, then I think we will be able to do a very good result."

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